Okay, I’ll try not to make a habit of this. But at No. 34 is Ivy, a band that made a near perfect soft-rock album called Apartment Life, from which this tasteful gem comes.
Imperial Teen, Yoo Hoo
Rolling Stone has a piece by Rob Sheffield ranking the top 98 songs from 1998.
Since it’s a celebration of the diverse weird styles and songs of a year that he says was known for being diverse and weird, it’s a grab bag of the unknown, forgotten, and other songs that are fun to remember. Like this one, ranked 48th, which I think would be good (love those breaths) even without the video (which is an able promo for the minor at the time, classic in the end teen flick Jawbreaker).
Iggy Pop and David Bowie on Dinah Shore
I think we may have posted this clip before, but maybe not. It is great.
Song of the Week – Moon Germs, Billy Cobham
IGNORED OBSCURED RESTORED
The great jazz fusion drummer, Billy Cobham, has recently ended a short tour as the Crosswinds Project, paying tribute to his own 1974 renowned album Crosswinds. His band included Paul Hanson (bassoon, saxophone), the brother of one of my bandmates in Rockridge Station.
I was unable to make it to the shows at the famous Yoshi’s in Oakland; but my friends that did, raved about the quality of the performances. That was the catalyst for me to dig out my Cobham discs and revisit the music.
The Cobham album I’ve been most familiar with is Total Eclipse, also from 1974. (I remember buying that record from the cut-out bins at NE Music City in Boston’s Kenmore Square.) When I returned to Total Eclipse I was blown away by a track I’d almost forgotten, “Moon Germs,” so I selected it as today’s SotW.
This funky number rocks! It has a big, dense arrangement, with a strong bass line (Alex Blake) and more horns than a stampede of rhinos (both Brecker brothers and Glenn Ferris). The guitar work by John Abercrombie is powerful. Check out the way the sax and guitar exchange solos halfway through. Remarkable!
It’s no wonder “Moon Germs” has become a staple in Cobham’s repertoire.
Enjoy… until next week.
Jackie Wilson
The man died onstage. But he didn’t die, he was resuscitated and lived another nine years. Tragically, a lack of oxygen to his brain made him semi-comatose for those years. You don’t see his name much these days, or hear his music, so I thought I’d post some.
This song is also an example of what I mean when I contend that the Beatles did not invent sophistication in rocknroll. No doubt the Beatles knew his work. This is from 1958:
And check out this live performance. Mr. Excitement they called him, and Elvis himself copped some moves from Jackie. The band here is stiff compared to the record but the vocal is simply amazing.
Song of the Week – No Excuses, Alice in Chains
IGNORED OBSCURED RESTORED
In 1994, Alice in Chains released an EP – Jar of Flies — of amazing quality. The album opens with the terrific “Rotten Apple,” with its “Hey ah na na” mantra over a wah wah guitar.
Next is the hypnotic “Nutshell.” It presaged the “unplugged” trend, focusing on acoustic instruments except for the electric guitar solo.
The third song, “I Stay Away,” is just as good. It’s a pretty dark sounding song that takes advantage of a few orchestral flairs (strings and horns) and a spooky vocal by Layne Staley. It was recognized with a Grammy Award for the Best Hard Rock Performance in 1995.
“I Stay Away” is followed by today’s SotW, “No Excuses.”
Lyrically, the song is about the complicated and tempestuous relationship between Staley and guitarist Jerry Cantrell.
It’s alright
There comes a time
Got no patience to search
For peace of mind
Layin’ low
Want to take it slow
No more hiding or
Disguising truths I’ve sold
Everyday it’s something
Hits me all so cold
Find me sittin’ by myself
No excuses, then I know
Then in the last verse, reconciliation…
Yeah, it’s fine
We’ll walk down the line
Leave our rain, a cold
Trade for warm sunshine
You my friend
I will defend
And if we change, well I
Love you anyway
The vocal harmony is complex and arresting.
I’m telling you, you’d be hard pressed to find four songs of better quality at the start of any album. This may support the argument for more Eps rather than albums stuffed with filler.
Enjoy… until next week.
Ry Cooder, Do Re Mi
Live.
I have issues with this, but damn. It’s great.
Ry Cooder, No Banker Left Behind
Writing catchy political song that endure is a fool’s task, but while this Ry Cooder tune hasn’t hit the top of the charts, I think chances are it will eventually.
Enjoy.
Weird Rolling Stones, Blow With Ry
What I didn’t know when I bought this sort-of Rolling Stones record a long time ago was that it was put out by an a-hole named Allen Klein, who had been the manager of the Stones, capitalizing on tapes he owned the rights to after they broke up.
What I did know when I bought this disk was that it was a pile of awfully good jamming by some awfully good musicians, even if it wasn’t at all polished or shaped. This, I thought, was musicians I liked playing what they wanted, and it sure was sweet.
I posted about It Hurts Me Too, that old Elmore James song, a few years ago, but tonight I found myself back here and this long jam is awfully good. Blow with Ry, because Keith was mad about having a great slide player come in. Okay.
LINK: Beatles/Stones Cage Match, Refereed by Michael Salfino
Michael is a friend of Remnants, and has categorically decided who is greater, the Beatles or the Stones.
Michael and I went to a show with Mike Meyers, the Spy Who Shagged Me, at the NY Public Library a few years ago, that tried to answer the same question.
Michael’s approach here is a little more data driven than Mike’s (and his brother’s), and at the same time just as arbitrary as everyone else’s. The problem, I think, are the categories. Deriving anything from the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame is bound to get you in trouble.
What are the right categories? Off the top of my head?
Best Album
Best Run of Albums
Live Performance
Influence
Innovation
Songs
I don’t know. It’s hard not to shape the questions to fit the answer you want to give, though I think the answer is the Beatles, even though the Stones are my more favorite band.
Try going with my categories and Michaels and see if you can up with different answers?
It could easily be a tie.